Dreaming of Dragons
by infy
Summary: Zhuge Liang comforts Jiang Wei in the prodigious young strategist's final moments.


_A very quick drabble, but I do feel the need to mention that this IS an AU, still in the canon DW universe, but an AU nonetheless in which Jiang Wei dies before Zhuge Liang. Enjoy!_

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Zhuge Liang held the boy close—the wound was too large for even the dragon's mighty wisdom to know how to save.

All he could do was make sure he was… comfortable.

"My boy…" Zhuge Liang whispered, his soothing voice still keeping its composed lilt, albeit a break here and there, "I'm sorry…"

Jiang Wei lifted his eyelids, his brown irises clouded over with fear. "It… it's alright, Prime Minister… I just take solace in that… you're… safe." Each word visibly pained him, and Zhuge Liang pressed a finger to the boy's lips.

"Shh… you don't need to say anything. Not if it hurts you." He ran gentle fingers through the boy's hair, and Jiang Wei shuddered. Zhuge Liang furrowed his brow. "You look… afraid, my boy."

There was a long pause as the young strategist found his breath again, each word escaping his mouth in gasping wisps. "I don't know what… what death will bring me…. I'm afraid…" He pawed at the air for a moment with his shaking hand, his twitching fingers, frail from weakness. Kongming took it in his own hand, gently holding it as he met his pupil's eyes. The boy's next words stung him—the finality of the situation finally hit him, and his face hardened.

"Will… will it hurt…?"

It wasn't about Shu anymore. The land of benevolence that Liu Bei, that his brothers, that Zhuge Liang himself sought out so fervently… that could all wait for now. All that mattered at the moment was Jiang Wei. Consoling his pupil as he slowly faded away. Zhuge Liang took a deep breath, exhaling out of his nose.

"No, Jiang Wei… no, it won't hurt. All you are doing is drifting off to sleep." His voice remained calm, gentle. Like silk, smooth and comforting. Jiang Wei managed to inhale, taking a deep breath.

"S-sleep, Prime Minister…?" He breathed. "Will… will I dream…?"

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, his vision blurring behind the tears he tried to hold back. "O-of course, my boy."

"D-do you know… w-what I'll… dream about, Prime Minister…?" The boy's voice faded slowly, into a quiet whisper, one that Zhuge Liang had to lean into to entirely understand through the still sounds of the night and the ambient chirping of the crickets.

The dragon's hands held his pupil's firmly. His fingers were stiff and tense, even as he tried to will them gentler. "I think…" he began, the lump in his throat not allowing his words passage. "I think you're the only one who can know that, Jiang Wei…"

Jiang Wei squeezed his hand, signalling his mentor to lean in closer. "C-can I tell you… what I want to dream…?"

Zhuge Liang smiled warmly, his voice breaking. "Of course."

"I want to dream… of… dragons."

"Of dragons, my boy…?"

"Of three… three dragons… circling a peach blossom…"

Zhuge Liang quirked an eyebrow. "Go on…"

"And they knock on another dragon's door… three times, they knock, before the other dragon joins them, circling that peach blossom. A phoenix as well. An old tiger, a mysterious masked stranger… A dog and a pheasant… dreaming… all of them… dreaming of a peach tree. And s-soon… soon the three dragons fly away. But the rest remain…"

Zhuge Liang smiled knowingly, chuckling under his breath as he held the boy's hand. "And when you join them…?"

Boyue smiled faintly, his eyes red from tears. "I… I don't know yet… b-but… I do know… I'd like to help them find that peach tree." He squeezed Kongming's hand again, his eyes fluttering closed. "And people… would come from everywhere to eat the peaches… and all the dragons would be proud. T-that is… what I would like to dream of…" He took one final breath, his chest rising evenly as he sighed with a faint smile on his face.

"When I… sleep…"

Zhuge Liang shut his eyes tightly, felt the boy's life slip away, fade out from under his very fingertips. But even as the body the dragon held so close to him went limp, he still held that hand.

He held his prodigy tightly, a stray tear falling from his eyes, staining the boy's pale cheek. No, Kongming would not let go of that hand. Not until he was sure that Boyue was dreaming of dragons.


End file.
